Nathaniel Rosenberg photo
Pearson's family, including his mom Anita Davies (right), gathered Wednesday to mourn their loved one, who would have turned 31 in less than a month.
Standing on the asphalt at the corner of Grand Avenue and East Pearl Street, Shaquille Pearson made a fatal decision.
Pearson’s friend “Willie G” was arguing with the occupants of a silver Honda CRV, including an 18-year-old who went by “Bizz” — as documented in a recently released arrest warrant for the teenage suspect in Pearson’s 2023 homicide.
Bizz, sporting a cast from a recent bullet wound, was upset because Willie G had allegedly sold him a fake gun a few days before. Pearson, according to police, went over to join the argument and protect his friend, boosting Bizz’s anger.
A few minutes later, police say that Bizz pulled back into the parking lot driving a stolen black Volkswagen SUV and holding a gun with an extended magazine. He was allegedly looking for Willie G, who was hiding in a nearby barber shop. When he couldn’t find his target, Bizz sped off down East Pearl Street where he spotted Pearson walking, and allegedly shot and killed him.
That’s all according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by New Haven police for Bizz, who they have charged with murdering the 29-year-old Pearson in Fair Haven on Nov. 14, 2023.
The nine-page affidavit was written on Jan 14. by Det. Christopher Stroscio, who also spoke to the Independent on Wednesday about the arrest. The suspect was arrested on Jan. 15.
“Bizz” — who the Independent is not naming at this time per site policy as we have not been able to make contact with him or his attorney, and the arrest warrant affidavit does not include an interview with him —has been charged with Murder, Carrying a Pistol without a Permit and Possession of a Large Capacity Magazine. He is currently being held on a $4 million bond. (Both “Bizz” and “Willie G” are nicknames used in the warrant.)
According to the warrant, police found the SUV, which didn’t have license plates, mere minutes after the shooting at a nearby housing complex where the warrant says police know people often stash stolen cars.
The SUV fled, leading to a chase where police tried to stop the car, at one point deflating a tire with stop sticks, but the car got away.
Police found the car abandoned in North Haven later that night. In June, roughly seven months after the fatal shooting, police pulled DNA from the vehicle that a state laboratory linked to Bizz.
Despite that evidence and other eyewitness accounts of the shooting, the case stalled for several months, until a jailhouse witness, who is not named in the warrant, came forward. Stroscio said police did not make any promises in exchange for information on Pearson’s case.
“We had a witness come forward towards the end of this whole situation, and cooperating. They gave us a statement but it all has to be corroborated and verified to know what they’re saying is true,” Stroscio said. “We can’t just take their word for it. It has to be verified through video footage, through other witnesses, through any other means we can figure out.” It was this witness who, along with surveillance camera footage, provided most of the account of Pearson’s shooting.
At a press conference announcing the arrest Wednesday morning, Anita Davies, Pearson’s mother, thanked police for continuing to work on the case for over a year after her son’s killing. Surrounded by family, she choked back tears as she remembered her son as a joyful and humorous young man.
“Shaq enjoyed writing and rapping his own music and playing basketball. He was such a comedian and loved to make you laugh, he was always smiling. Those are things that I’m gonna miss, him making me laugh,” Davies said, her voice trembling. “I’m just glad that justice is done for my son.”
Davies thanked NHPD for "sticking with me," over the last 14-months.